Use of hulled rape [[seeds]] seed

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to a method for processing rape seeds (A.A), according to which the seeds are hulled and separated into kernels (S.E) and hulls (S.G), the kernels (S.E) being subjected to one or more pressings in order to extract oil (P.A; P.C), leaving behind a press cake (P.B; P.D) containing solids and oil. Said method is carried out in such a way that the press cake (P.B; P.D) is either directly distributed or distributed after at least one further grinding process (K; W) as a raw material, filler or additive (K. D) for animal feed.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This utility patent application is a U.S. National Phase ofWO2011/029612, filed Sep. 11, 2010, which claims priority from CH00276/10, filed Mar. 2, 2010 and DE 10 2009 040 925.4, filed Sep. 11,2009, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to a method for processing rapeseed, wherein theyare dehulled and are separated into kernels (parenchyma tissue andradicle) and husk fractions and wherein the kernels are subjected to oneor more pressings to obtain oil and in so doing an oil cake containingsolid and oil remains, as well as to a use of an oil cake and to apowdery product.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

It is known to use rapeseed to obtain oil by pressing. It is furtherknown from EP 1 074 605 B1 to dehull the rape grains before theirpressing and to separate the kernel fractions and the husk fractionsfrom one another. Rape oil is then obtained from the light, yellowkernel fractions by pressing which then likewise has a yellowish colorpleasing to the customer.

There is the problem on such a pressing that only around a third of thepressed product accrues as high-quality oil and approximately two-thirdsremain as oil cake containing solid and oil.

It is therefore furthermore known in turn to supply substantiallyblackish gray husk fractions to the remaining oil cake and to subjectthe mixture thus obtained to a further pressing in order thereby toincrease the oil fraction obtained overall.

The oil cake with a solid content still remaining after this furtherpressing is of an overall grayish green color due to the huskreintroduced portions having anti-nutritional ingredients and is, forthis reason alone, only used as a comparatively low-quality animal feedor as an admixture thereto with a high portion of anti-nutritionalcomponents from the husk fractions.

It is the underlying problem of the invention to provide a high-qualityuse of oil cakes in rape processing.

Not only the pressed out oil can be used as a food by the method inaccordance with the invention, but also an oil cake remaining in theprocess as a high-quality base material, filler material or additivehaving a protein content for animal feed so that the total degree ofutilization of the rapeseed increases substantially. Since the oil cakeis subjected to a further milling process, a fine powder arises which isreadily suitable as a base material, a filler material or as an additivefor animal foods.

The free-flowing capability of the obtained powder can in particularespecially advantageously be used for fish farms in the furtherprocessing to pellets by extrusion processes or mixing and extrusionprocesses.

The further milling process can include a cryogenic milling for aparticularly high-quality product so that a milling is also possiblewithout a sticking together of the tools involved in the milling processwith a relatively high residual oil content in the supplied millingmaterial. In this respect, fractions of the oil cake are particularlyfavorably supplied as the milling material in frozen form so that theoil fractions cannot escape as a liquid. It is furthermore favorable ifa beating of the supplied milling material takes place in this furthermilling process in a pin disk mill comparatively insensitive tosticking.

Alternatively or additionally, the further milling process can includean oil separation of the supplied milling material, in particular byextraction, so that the residual oil content in the processed oil cakecan also fall by this measure and its processing is facilitated.

Provided that only kernel fractions of the rape grains are supplied tothe further milling process without the addition of husk fractions andare subsequently used as a base material or as a filler material foranimal food, it is ensured that the material thus arising retains thelight color of the kernels without being impaired in its aestheticeffect by husk fractions. Anti-nutritional portions contained in thehusk such as waxes or polyphenols are thus also kept out of the foodformed.

Milling is advantageously so fine that the base material, fillermaterial or additive forms a powder having grain sizes of around 100 μmto 500 μm.

Such a powder can also serve as a base material for a protein extraction(protein concentration and/or protein isolation) since the raw fiberwith anti-nutritional components is at least largely removed due to thereduction of husk fractions and in addition a high protein content ispresent in the powder due to the oil reduction. The rape proteins inthis process contain a number of important amino acids and can thereforereplace animal protein sources. In addition, an extraction has alreadytaken place by the cold or hot milling.

With the high protein content which includes all amino acids ofnutritional importance, with the low oil fraction and husk fraction andwith its grain size, this powder is well-suited as a substitute for soyin the animal feed sector and is even superior to it.

The use of an oil cake obtained in the processing of rapeseed andcontaining kernel fractions of the rapeseed as filler material oradditive for animal food is claimed separately.

The use of an oil cake obtained in the processing of rapeseed andcontaining kernel fractions of the rapeseed as a basis for proteinextraction and for a feed or food to be formed therefrom is likewiseclaimed separately.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Further advantages and features of the invention result from embodimentsof the subject matter of the invention shown in the drawing anddescribed in the following.

FIG. 1 is a schematic flowchart of a method in accordance with theinvention;

FIG. 2 is a detailed view of different method steps for FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a schematic flowchart of an alternative method in accordancewith the invention in which a choice can be made between cryogenicmilling and so-called hot milling at room temperature; and

FIG. 4 is a detailed view of different method steps for FIG. 3.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with the flowchart shown in FIG. 1, the supplied and stillunsorted rapeseed A.A is first sorted in a preparation step A such thatthe rape grains A.E to be further processed have largely the same size.

They are then introduced into a device S for dehulling and are therebyseparated into a husk fraction S.G and a kernel fraction S.E

A pressing of the husks is possible; however, here only the pressing Pof the kernels S.E is drawn in FIG. 2 and said kernels are then furthersupplied to a fine milling device K. In this process, both oil cakemilled once P.B and oil cake milled a plurality of times P.D can besubjected to the fine milling. Unpressed kernels S.E can also beincluded in the fine milling.

In accordance with the embodiment in accordance with FIGS. 1 and 2, acryogenic milling is carried out—only by way of example—which works withfrozen milling material so that the relatively high residual oilfraction in the milling material K.B cannot result in a smudging orsticking together of the machines.

Alternatively, it is shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 that a so-called millingprocess of the milling material W.A can also be carried out at roomtemperature while dispensing with a cost-intensive cooling with liquidnitrogen.

Also, under certain circumstances, a portion of the milling material K.Bor W.A can be milled cryogenically and another portion can be hotmilled.

A fine material K.D (or W.B: FIG. 4) is obtained as a result of the finemilling which forms a free-flowing powder having grain sizes ofapproximately 100 μm to 500 μm in an approximately Gaussiandistribution. The powder K.D or W.B respectively has a light color dueto the use of only the kernels without husks. This powder K.D can thenbe used directly as or at least as a base material, filler material oradditive for animal food of the most varied kinds.

A powder K.D or W.B formed in this manner can in particular also serveas a starting material for a protein extraction (protein concentrationand/or protein isolation) since it has a very high protein content witha lot of important amino acids and is liberated from disturbing rawfibers. Anti-nutritional substances such as chlorophyll, tannin,polyphenols, or phytic acid are therefore considerably reduced. Such asubstance can also serve very readily as a substitute for soy in animalfeed.

The meat amount and/or the fish meal amount in animal feed can, forexample, be substantially reduced and the nutritional content cannevertheless be increased by the invention. In addition, the risk ofdisease transfer via meat and bone meal (e.g. BSE) can be reducedsubstantially more by the substitution of animal products with theproduct in accordance with the invention since the product in accordancewith the invention does not contain any pathogenic germs. The need forfactory farming for the manufacture of animal feed can also be reduced.

Due to the physical properties of the powder K.D, W.B (gel formation,crosslinking, capability of taking up water), advantages result in theprocessing of feed bodies, e.g. pellets, which can be manufactured byextrusion or similar processes. A denaturation of the proteins isprevented by a consistent cold manufacture so that the above-mentionedgood physical properties are also still present in the finished productand can there provide a good crosslinking of, for example, extrudedpellets of the most varied sizes and shapes.

In detail, in the preparation of the initially unsorted raw rapeseedA.A, a cleaning of the rapeseed is first carried out in the screeningmachine 1 so that impurities A.C and shriveled grains A.D can beseparated out and the cleaned rapeseed A.B can be dried in a seed dryer2, for instance in an airflow.

The rape grains A.E cleaned and dried and having an approximatelystandard size in this manner are then supplied to dehulling S where theyare first crushed in a double mill 3 in the gap between the rollingmills. The crushed rape S.A arising in this process is supplied to ascreening machine 4 in which coarsely crushed material S.C and finelycrushed material S.E are separated out and the so-called useful crushedmaterial are transferred onward into a sifter 5. In said sifter, thehusks S.F are separated out and are supplied overall with the coarselycrushed material S.C and the finely crushed material S.E to a silo 6 asa so-called husk fraction S.G and are further processed depending ontheir purpose. This further processing can, for example, be an admixtureto an oil cake of the kernel fraction S.E which is temporarily stored ina parallel silo 7. The fraction of oil obtained overall can be increasedby this admixture and repeat pressing; however, the oil cake is thencharged with the dark husk fractions so that its optical appearance—andthus the possibility of use as a raw material for food—is limited and itis further used, for example, as animal feed.

Provided that the visual appearance does not play any role, such an oilcake can also be further used in the manner as is described in thefollowing for the kernel fraction S.E.

This dehulled kernel fraction S.E is supplied to a single-stage ormulti-stage pressing unit P. As is drawn by way of example in FIG. 2,two screw presses 8, 9 are provided there.

A first pressing of the dehulled rape S.E is carried out in the screwpress 8 so that the kernel oil P.A of the first pressing can beobtained. The kernel cake P.B of the first pressing can be subjected toa second pressing in the second press 9 so that the oil yield increasesand the kernel oil P.C can be additionally obtained. The kernel cake P.Dof the second pressing (or of a further pressing) can, like the kernelcake P.B of the first pressing and/or also unmilled rape kernels S.E, besupplied as an individual fraction or as a mixture of these fractionsoverall to the fine milling K or W.

The fine milling K is in accordance with FIGS. 1 and 2 only by way ofexample a cryogenic fine milling, i.e. the milling material K.B isfrozen in a cooler 11, here a paddle screw cooler, after passing througha metal separator 10. Liquid nitrogen K.A is introduced here into thiscooler 11 so that the oil fraction still contained in the millingmaterial (typically around 10% for the second pressing and 22% for thefirst pressing) does not smudge or stick together the milling device.

The frozen milling material K.C is beaten in a pin disk mill 12 and isthereby converted into the desired fine material K.D of fine grain inthe order of magnitude of 100 μm to 500 μm and is introduced into acollection tank 13. The separation gas K.E is removed from the finematerial K.D via a filter 14 and a fan 15. The nitrogen K.F can be usedin a circuit again for cooling.

The further milling process does not necessarily have to include acryogenic milling process, but can additionally or alternatively alsoinclude a further oil separation before the milling of the suppliedmilling material, in particular by extraction.

Alternatively, a hot milling W without nitrogen cooling is also shown inFIGS. 3 and 4 in which a pin disk mill 17 is likewise provided formilling the milling material W.A and in which a powder W.B is likewiseobtained at the end.

Since only kernel fractions of the rape grains are supplied to thefurther milling process without the addition of husk fractions, theobtained fine milling material K.D, W.B also remains light yellow andwithout the fractions which are under certain circumstances unwanted forfoods and are contained in the husk fractions.

A use of an oil cake P.B, P.D obtained in the processing of rape grainsA.A and containing kernel fractions S.E of the rape grains liberatedfrom husks as a base material for animal food is shown for the firsttime by the invention. The value creation of the rapeseed issubstantially increased since not only just the oil, but also the oilcake is utilized as a high-quality material for a further processing.

The powder K.D obtained in this manner can in this respect be used in avaried manner, for instance also for sausage products or bakery productsor other forms or preparations, also for treats for pets, for other foodbodies to be further processed or as a base material for a proteinextraction for creating very high protein foods. A heating or a chemicalmodification of this powder K.D, W.B is not necessary in this respect,and nor is an injection of fungi or other additives; it is rather usabledirectly as a base material or as an additive.

The powder K.D, W.B can, however, also be further processed in differentmanners, in particular also the food formed by the powder, for examplecan also be heated or deep frozen, extruded or pressed into bars ortablets or in another manner.

Reference numeral list A.A rapeseed, raw A.B rapeseed, cleaned A.Cimpurities, A.D shriveled grain A.E rapeseed, dried S.A crushed rape S.Buseful crushed material S.C coarsely crushed material S.D finely crushedmaterial S.E dehulled rape S.F husks S.G husk fraction P.A kernel oil,1st pressing P.B kernel cake, 1st pressing P.C kernel oil, 2nd pressingP.D kernel cake, 2nd pressing K cryogenic milling K.A nitrogen, (liquid)K.B milling material K.C milling material, frozen K.D fine material K.Eseparation gas K.F nitrogen, (gaseous) W hot milling W.A millingmaterial for hot milling W.B fine material 1 screening machine 2 seeddryer 3 double mill 4 screening machine 5 sifter 6 silo husks 7 silodehulled rape 8 sieve screw press 9 sieve screw press 10 metal separator11 paddle screw cooler 12 pin disk mill 13 collector tank 14 dust filter15 fan 17 pin disk mill

1. A method for processing rapeseed (A.A), wherein they are dehulled andare separated into kernel fractions (S.E), on the one hand, and huskfractions (S.G), on the other hand, and wherein the kernel fractions(S.E) are subjected to one or more pressings for obtaining oil (P.A;P.C) and in so doing an oil cake (P.B; P.D) remains with solid contentand oil content, characterized in that the oil cake (P.B; P.D) issubjected to at least one further milling process (K; W) and is outputas a base material, filler material or additive (K.D; W.B) for animalfoods.
 2. A method in accordance with claim 1, characterized in that thefine material (K.D; W.B) created from the milling (K; W) serves as abase material, a filler material or additive for fish food.
 3. A methodin accordance with claim 1, characterized in that the further millingprocess (K) includes a cryogenic milling (11; 12) in which portions ofthe oil cake are supplied as milling material (K.C) in frozen form.
 4. Amethod in accordance with claim 1, characterized in that the furthermilling method (K; W) includes a beating of the supplied millingmaterial in a pin disk mill (12; 17).
 5. A method in accordance withclaim 1, characterized in that the further milling method (K; W)includes an oil separation of the supplied milling material (K.B; WA),in particular by extraction.
 6. A method in accordance with claim 1,characterized in that only kernel fractions (S.E) of the rape grains(A.A) are supplied to the further milling process (K:W) without theaddition of husk fractions (S.G).
 7. A method in accordance with claim1, characterized in that the obtained base material, filler material oradditive (K.D; W.B) forms a powder having grain sizes from 100 μm to 500μm.
 8. A method in accordance with claim 1, characterized in that theobtained base material (K.D; W.B) serves as a basis for a proteinconcentration and/or protein isolation.
 9. A method in accordance withclaim 1, characterized in that the obtained base material, fillermaterial or additive (K.D; W.B) is mixed into base bodies of animalfood.
 10. (canceled)
 11. (canceled)
 12. A powder (K.D) as a basematerial for animal food and/or as a base material for food for feedformed with the aid of protein concentration and/or protein isolation,wherein the powder is at least partly formed from dehulled rapeseed andfrom rapeseed separated from husk fractions (S.E) and subsequentlypressed.
 13. A powder in accordance with claim 12, characterized in thatit is obtained by a milling process (K; W) from an oil cake of rapeseed(A.A) dehulled and separated from husk fractions (S.G) and subsequentlypressed.